Chocolate truffle
A chocolate truffle is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre coated in chocolate, cocoa powder or chopped toasted nuts (typically hazelnuts, almonds, or coconut), usually in a spherical, conical, or curved shape.
Their name derives from their traditional shape, which resembles the truffle, an edible part of the tuber fungus.
VarietiesMajor types of chocolate truffle include:
The Swiss truffle is made by combining melted chocolate into a boiling mixture of dairy cream and butter, which is poured into molds to set before sprinkling with cocoa powder. Like the French truffles, these have a very short shelf life and must be consumed within a few days of making.
The French truffle is made with fresh cream and chocolate, and then rolled in cocoa or nut powder.
The European truffle is made with syrup and a base of cocoa powder, milk powder, fats, and other such ingredients to create an oil-in-water type emulsion.
The American truffle is a half-egg-shaped, chocolate-coated truffle, a mixture of dark or milk chocolates with butterfat, and in some cases, hardened coconut oil. Joseph Schmidt, a San Francisco chocolatier, and founder of Joseph Schmidt Confections, is credited with its creation in the mid-1980s.
Other styles include:
The Belgian truffle or praline is made with dark or milk chocolate filled with ganache, buttercream, or nut pastes.
The Brazilian truffle or brigadeiro (Portuguese for brigadier) is made from condensed milk, cocoa powder, butter or margarine, and chocolate sprinkles.
The California truffle is a larger, lumpier version of the French truffle, first made by Alice Medrich in 1973 after she tasted truffles in France. She sold these larger truffles in a charcuterie in the Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood of Berkeley, then in 1977, she began selling them in her own store, Cocolat, which soon expanded into a chain. The American craze for truffles started with Medrich.
A pot truffle is any kind of truffle that includes cannabis.
Vegan truffles can have any shape or flavor, and are adapted to vegan diets by replacing dairy with nut milks and butters.
